For Michael and Karen Kerner, ’86, a college education is not about the content of what is learned — it’s about how it is learned.
On Friday afternoon, Dr. Karen and Michael Kerner discussed their time at Binghamton University, their careers and world travels at a round-table discussion with students as part of Harpur Edge’s Lunch and Learn series.
What students pursue as a major is less important in comparison to gaining transferable skills and becoming a well-rounded person, they said. Giving examples of their time at BU, such as how Karen was an RA and how they both played intramural sports, the two said their experiences helped shape them for the careers they have today.
Michael, the CEO of Zurich Insurance Company, graduated from BU with degrees in mathematics and economics. He worked as a calculus teaching assistant, and through that job, he said, he gained a skill set he uses daily.
“You need to be able to give an alternative method, an alternative way of thinking about it so that you can help people understand what the issues are,” Michael said. “And that, I’ve carried with me forever because almost everything, in my career at least, has been the opportunity to communicate to other people and explain things in different ways.”
Karen graduated from BU with a degree in English and currently works as an optometrist. Karen said knew she wanted to be an optometrist from a young age, but always enjoyed studying English. She took time off after college and worked in retail and advertising before attending SUNY Optometry.
She says she is grateful for her English degree from BU, because her major taught her communication skills that allow her to interact better with patients.
“When a patient walks into my room, I look at them holistically, not just as a pair of eyeballs,” she said. “And a lot of the time people think I’m very intuitive, but it’s because I can read people and I hear what they’re saying and I can put things together. And I think that makes me a better clinician, a better optometrist.”
Unsure of what he wanted to do with his degrees while he was in college, Michael applied for a summer internship at an insurance company. He later went on to work full-time with the company and returned to BU to recruit. Then, in 1992, he was asked to join the team at the then-emerging Zurich Insurance Company.
Michael and Karen both advised students to step outside their comfort zones, including pursuing a career in something one might not have majored in.
“Try things,” Michael said. “There will be opportunities that present themselves. Don’t say no to things just because it doesn’t perfectly fit because you can never tell where it’s going to lead. The best experiences that I’ve had were when I said yes to things that had me outside my comfort zone.”
Dylan Caruana, a junior double-majoring in English and geography, said he enjoyed the informal format of the Lunch and Learn, which allowed him to ask questions.
“I mostly just want to find my way, and find out what I really want to do with my life,” he said. “And I feel like my questions were answered. It was very helpful to see how other people found out what they like to do and how they got there.”